Family predictors of physical activity change during the COVID-19 lockdown in preschool children in Germany

The COVID-19 pandemic is associated with crucial changes in children’s daily life including their physical activity (PA) and screen time (ST). Among preschool children, the family represents an important factor for sufficient PA levels by being the gatekeeper for PA. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the influence of the family environment, specifically SES, parental support, and having siblings on COVID-19-related changes of PA and ST behavior in 317 (170 boys, 147 girls) German preschool children using longitudinal data. Our results indicate a decline in total amount of sports-related PA, an increase in outdoor play, as well as an increase in leisure ST in preschool children. The changes in total amount of PA differed between children with different levels of parental support as well as in dependence on having siblings. Furthermore, levels of outdoor play and ST in preschool children were influenced by environmental factors like having access to their own garden. We conclude that the family environment (parental support as well as physical environment) is highly relevant for PA and ST levels in preschool children. To provide every child with PA opportunities during potential future lockdowns, restriction policies should be adapted and parents need sophisticated information about the importance of their support and thus the PA levels of their children

Longitudinal drop-out and weighting against its bias

Background The bias caused by drop-out is an important factor in large population-based epidemiological studies. Many studies account for it by weighting their longitudinal data, but to date there is no detailed final approach for how to conduct these weights. Methods In this study we describe the observed longitudinal bias and a three-step longitudinal weighting approach used for the longitudinal data in the MoMo baseline (N = 4528, 4–17 years) and wave 1 study with 2807 (62%) participants between 2003 and 2012. Results The most meaningful drop-out predictors were socioeconomic status of the household, socioeconomic characteristics of the mother and daily TV usage. Weighting reduced the bias between the longitudinal participants and the baseline sample, and also increased variance by 5% to 35% with a final weighting efficiency of 41.67%. Conclusions We conclude that a weighting procedure is important to reduce longitudinal bias in health-oriented epidemiological studies and suggest identifying the most influencing variables in the first step, then use logistic regression modeling to calculate the inverse of the probability of participation in the second step, and finally trim and standardize the weights in the third step

Parental and peer support and modelling in relation to domain-specific physical activity participation in boys and girls from Germany

Background Physical activity (PA) as a precondition of child development is related with social environmental correlates. However, domain-specific PA and gender issues have been neglected in studies on social support and modelling and PA in school-aged children. The aim of this study was to assess the relationships of parental and peer modelling and social support with domain-specific PA participation in a large sample of school-aged children, taking gender into account. Methods 3,505 school children aged 6 to 17 years old participated in the German nationwide ‘MoMo’ cohort-study. By using the MoMo-PAQ the participants and their parents provided self-report data on perceived social support and social modelling and domain-specific PA participation. Relationships of social environmental variables and the physical outcomes were analysed by logistic regression analyses. Results At secondary school level, girls were less likely than boys to participate in physical activity in and outside of sports clubs, extra-curricular physical activity and in outdoor play (p < 0.05), but at primary school level this pattern only applied to club sport (p < 0.01). Girls also received less social support than boys (p < 0.01). Physical activity participation in all domains was associated with any of the social support and modelling variables and differences between physical activity domains and between boys and girls occurred. Most consistently physical activity in sports clubs was related with the social environmental correlates in boys (primary school: R2 = 0.60; secondary school: R2 = 0.45) and girls (primary school: R2 = 0.53; secondary school: R2 = 0.47). Conclusions In future, reciprocal relationships of social environmental variables and PA should be considered in longitudinal studies to obtain insights into the direction of the associations. Furthermore, interventions encompassing the social environment and focussed particularly on the promotion of domain-specific PA in girls in secondary school-age are warranted

Development of Physical Fitness among the Top 10 Boys and Girls in Sport Schools: A 10-Year Cohort Analysis

In this study, we aimed to measure the development of physical fitness (PF) of 10 different cohorts in grade 4 and 8 different cohorts in grade 7 at 18 sport schools of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. A total of 11,451 subjects (3979 female, 7472 male) aged 8–12 from the past 10 years were assessed using the German Motor Test (DMT) in grade 4. We tested 2614 subjects (1032 girls, 1582 boys) aged 11–15 from the past eight years using the DMT in grade 7. PF talents were defined as the top 10 boys and top 10 girls of each cohort. Linear regression was calculated to assess the development of PF. The PF of all subjects remained stable in grade 4 and declined in grade 7. The PF of the top 10 boys and top 10 girls increased in both grades. The improvements were stronger in grade 7 (female: rates of change () = 0.80; male: = 0.76) than in grade 4 (female: = 0.36; male: = 0.32). Sit-ups and push-ups showed the highest change rates. The increase in PF of the top 10 boys and girls can be interpreted as a success for sport schools. Due to the increasing number of test participants, the likelihood of finding top talent increased. However, the increase in PF in the top talents was only partly explained by an increase in the number of tested individuals

Physical Activity and Recurrent Pain in Children and Adolescents in Germany—Results from the MoMo Study

Recurrent pain can be a significant disruption in the activities of daily life, and is not only a health problem in adults but also in children and adolescents. This study analyzed the prevalence of recurrent pain in the current sample (n = 1516; 11–17 years (mean$_{age}$ = 14.4 ± 2.0 years); 50.8% female) of a nationwide study in Germany, evaluated the association of participants’ device-based physical activity (PA) with the prevalence of recurrent pain, and assessed whether children and adolescents who reported pain for the last three months accumulated less PA than those who did not. A higher prevalence was found in girls for recurrent headaches (42.2% vs. 28.7%), abdominal pain (28.2% vs. 20.1%), and back pain (26.9% vs. 19.5%). We found higher odds for recurrent headaches in girls (OR = 1.54) and in participants that did not reach at least 60 min of moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) per day (OR = 2.06). Girls who reported recurrent headaches accumulated 4.7 min less MVPA per day than those without. The prevalence of pain remains at a high level in the German youth and underscores the need for interventions to improve the health situations of children and adolescents

Standing breaks in lectures improve university students’ self-perceived physical, mental and cognitive condition

While adolescents and adults should limit high levels of sedentary behavior, university students spend large amounts of time on sedentary activities. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of this prolonged sitting on students’ self-perceived physical, mental, and cognitive condition and to answer the question of whether simple standing breaks in lectures can help students improve these conditions and for example feel more concentrated, motivated, or less tense in class. A five-minute standing break was introduced using a designed presentation slide for one semester in five different 90-min lectures. In addition, an active break as well as an open break with no trigger were implemented in two further lectures to explicitly investigate the effects of a standing break. Before, during, and after the semester, the students were surveyed about their physical, mental, and cognitive condition (836 respondents at start, 634 during semester, and 528 at the end). To evaluate the practicality and acceptance of the standing break, lecturers were interviewed about their experience. At all survey time points, the standing break was highly accepted by the university students. About three quarters of the students felt a relaxation of the muscles in the neck and shoulder as well as in the back and the legs. More than three quarters perceived an increase in concentration, receptiveness and retentiveness, motivation, and well-being. Results of the statistical analysis indicate that a standing break as well as an active break are more effective than an open break to improve the self-perceived physical and psychological well-being of the university students. The increase in cognitive skills is reported by all groups, including the group who were offered open breaks. Hence, standing breaks in university lectures receive a high level of acceptance and practicability and have the potential to increase students’ physical, mental, and cognitive condition and contribute to students’ physical activity and health. While field research provides opportunities such as the testing of measures in the natural environment and producing real-life results relevant to the students and lecturers, it also imposes limitations as lecture settings differed, not all disturbances could be controlled, and the participation in the study might have led to social-desirability bias. For a sustainable development of a standing-friendly teaching and learning culture at universities, further interventions as well as the consideration of the topic in all processes and decisions within the universities are necessary. Since this study has taken place, student-life has changed drastically with COVID-19 measures. While this current paper is based on research conducted in 2019 and has only tested live lectures on campus, the tools tested could also be used for online lectures

Physical Activity of German Children and Adolescents 2003-2012 : The MoMo-Study

Organized and unorganized physical activity (PA) hold an important role in the daily life of children and adolescents. Regular representative tracking of PA in different settings is important to evaluate social trends and implemented interventions. In this paper, representative PA data of German children and adolescents from the MoMo Baseline-Study (2004, n = 4528) are compared to those of Wave 1 (2010, n = 3994). Participants aged 4–17 were drawn out of 167 sample points in Germany and the data was weighted to ensure representativeness. PA was measured via questionnaire and was differentiated between organized (sports clubs and schools) and unorganized (unorganized sports and playing outside). Organized PA in extracurricular activities and sports clubs increased by eight percent, while unorganized PA decreased by seven percent. In addition to sports clubs, schools became a more prevalent setting for participation in physical activity in Germany